The Parental Investment of First-Generation African American Rural College Graduates in Cultivating College Student Success

This basic qualitative study examines the parental investment strategies of first-generation African American rural college graduates in cultivating college student success. Extant literature has demonstrated that the role of the family is necessary to support the college student and that the investment of the parent is paramount to student college completion. Although educational attainment is an important goal for African American rural residents, research detailing strategies that cultivated student college completion among this population is needed to fill the gaps in the literature. The objectives were to discuss communication, involvement, and factors of influence to determine how these parents transferred their educational beliefs to their children and supported them through college graduation. These stories of success were told through the eyes of first-generation parents and their second-generation adult offspring. Research detailing the parental investment strategies toward college completion is necessary to inform parents, educational institutions, and rural college student completion in postsecondary institutions of the strategies necessary to ensure college success in this population. Lieberman’s transgenerational theory, along with concepts extracted from parental investment as it relates to education, provided the conceptual lens for the study. Data collected through interviews and documents were analyzed utilizing content analysis. Ten semistructured interviews were conducted with parents and their adult offspring. Interviews gleaned the lived experiences of the participants. Data analysis revealed six themes: (a) Catch Them Early, (b) Set the Tone, (c) Keep Them Busy, (d) Don’t Let Them “Break Rank,” (e) Encourage Advancement, and (f) Tell the Generations. The findings support the importance of developing a family investment team, how a return on parental investment occurs, making use of rural extracurricular programming, and transferring positive beliefs regarding higher education

Supernatural bodies : the intersection of Nigerian feminism and body autonomy.

Many Nigerian women are depicted in literature as possessing little to no personal agency. Due to socio political issues, these women are often relegated to the margins of discourse surrounding Nigerian literature. Because of the chasm left within this arena, it becomes apparent that a critical investigation should be complied on the ways in which Nigerian feminism is employed within literature of the Global South. Specifically, with the recent surge in young, female, Nigerian authors being published, there has been an increase in the usage of the supernatural as a key element to provide women a semblance of agency. These young writers use various supernatural elements to open the discourse on Nigerian bodies, and how previous scholarship has failed to adequately capture underpinnings that are crucial to Nigerian feminism. The female protagonists in Ayobami Adebayo's Stay with Me, Helen Oyeyemi's White is for Witching, and Akwaeke Emezi's Freshwater each find agency via supernatural elements. Applying the theoretical framework of Oye?Çro?ünke?ü Oye?Çwu?Çmi?ü, specifically regarding gender roles in Nigeria, it becomes clear that each of these protagonists adheres to but also rejects Nigerian gender roles. Through this subversion of Western patriarchal notions of gender and feminism, the three authors studied provide a new type of Nigerian feminism, one that accounts for all feminine bodies, binary or non. By looking at how each author uses supernatural elements in tandem with bodies, it becomes clear that a discourse on the body cannot be parsed from its attachment to agency

Intragenic homogenization and multiple copies of prey-wrapping silk genes in Argiope garden spiders.

BackgroundSpider silks are spectacular examples of phenotypic diversity arising from adaptive molecular evolution. An individual spider can produce an array of specialized silks, with the majority of constituent silk proteins encoded by members of the spidroin gene family. Spidroins are dominated by tandem repeats flanked by short, non-repetitive N- and C-terminal coding regions. The remarkable mechanical properties of spider silks have been largely attributed to the repeat sequences. However, the molecular evolutionary processes acting on spidroin terminal and repetitive regions remain unclear due to a paucity of complete gene sequences and sampling of genetic variation among individuals. To better understand spider silk evolution, we characterize a complete aciniform spidroin gene from an Argiope orb-weaving spider and survey aciniform gene fragments from congeneric individuals.ResultsWe present the complete aciniform spidroin (AcSp1) gene from the silver garden spider Argiope argentata (Aar_AcSp1), and document multiple AcSp1 loci in individual genomes of A. argentata and the congeneric A. trifasciata and A. aurantia. We find that Aar_AcSp1 repeats have >98% pairwise nucleotide identity. By comparing AcSp1 repeat amino acid sequences between Argiope species and with other genera, we identify regions of conservation over vast amounts of evolutionary time. Through a PCR survey of individual A. argentata, A. trifasciata, and A. aurantia genomes, we ascertain that AcSp1 repeats show limited variation between species whereas terminal regions are more divergent. We also find that average dN/dS across codons in the N-terminal, repetitive, and C-terminal encoding regions indicate purifying selection that is strongest in the N-terminal region.ConclusionsUsing the complete A. argentata AcSp1 gene and spidroin genetic variation between individuals, this study clarifies some of the molecular evolutionary processes underlying the spectacular mechanical attributes of aciniform silk. It is likely that intragenic concerted evolution and functional constraints on A. argentata AcSp1 repeats result in extreme repeat homogeneity. The maintenance of multiple AcSp1 encoding loci in Argiope genomes supports the hypothesis that Argiope spiders require rapid and efficient protein production to support their prolific use of aciniform silk for prey-wrapping and web-decorating. In addition, multiple gene copies may represent the early stages of spidroin diversification

The Parental Investment of First-Generation African American Rural College Graduates in Cultivating College Student Success

This basic qualitative study examines the parental investment strategies of first-generation African American rural college graduates in cultivating college student success. Extant literature has demonstrated that the role of the family is necessary to support the college student and that the investment of the parent is paramount to student college completion. Although educational attainment is an important goal for African American rural residents, research detailing strategies that cultivated student college completion among this population is needed to fill the gaps in the literature. The objectives were to discuss communication, involvement, and factors of influence to determine how these parents transferred their educational beliefs to their children and supported them through college graduation. These stories of success were told through the eyes of first-generation parents and their second-generation adult offspring. Research detailing the parental investment strategies toward college completion is necessary to inform parents, educational institutions, and rural college student completion in postsecondary institutions of the strategies necessary to ensure college success in this population. Lieberman’s transgenerational theory, along with concepts extracted from parental investment as it relates to education, provided the conceptual lens for the study. Data collected through interviews and documents were analyzed utilizing content analysis. Ten semistructured interviews were conducted with parents and their adult offspring. Interviews gleaned the lived experiences of the participants. Data analysis revealed six themes: (a) Catch Them Early, (b) Set the Tone, (c) Keep Them Busy, (d) Don’t Let Them “Break Rank,” (e) Encourage Advancement, and (f) Tell the Generations. The findings support the importance of developing a family investment team, how a return on parental investment occurs, making use of rural extracurricular programming, and transferring positive beliefs regarding higher education

Learning styles and multiple intelligences in animal science: college instructors and their students

There is a disconnection between how college students are taught and what the research has shown to be the most effective teaching methods. A majority of college instructors currently teach primarily using lectures, PowerPoint presentations and written or online tests to assess knowledge. It is not known why these methods are still so prominent in college classrooms since they have repeatedly been found have inadequate effects on learning. The purpose of our study was to characterize the Learning Styles (LS) and Multiple Intelligences (MI) of both the instructors and students and to determine the similarities and differences between those. Using online assessments data was collected from 20 instructors who taught animal science courses and 448 students enrolled in those courses. Our working hypothesis was that there would be differences of the LS and MI between instructors and students. In addition, we hypothesized the instructors were not familiar with LS/MI, were not conscious of their own LS/MI and most likely taught in a manner that accommodated their own LS/MI without being aware of the LS/MI of their students. Results from the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) indicated that the LS preferences of the instructors and students were generally more closely aligned than predicted by our original hypothesis. A statistically significant difference was shown in the sensing/intuitive dimension and the sequential/global dimension of LS. Multiple intelligences of the instructors and students were profiled by the Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scales (MIDAS) and were generally more closely aligned than predicted by our original hypothesis. Both instructors and students were ranked in the high category for the naturalist MI scale. In addition, it was discovered that the instructors were not familiar with LS or MI and determined that most of the instructors had the desire to alter their courses to address LS/MI of their students. Based on these findings, instructors and students possessed a spectrum of the LS preferences as well as exhibited a wide range of scores on the MI scales. The best instructional plan would include teaching methods and pedagogy that address all LS and MI within each course, allowing for students to use their strong capacities as well as strengthen their weaker ones

A Pilot Study of Reducing Test Anxiety in a Cohort of Underrepresented in Medicine MCAT Students Using Near-Peer Coaching

Background: The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a standardized exam taken by prospective medical students. The MCAT is critical for success in most of the US and parts of Canada, and such pressures may enhance test anxiety. Students from Underrepresented in Medicine (URM) backgrounds are often compounded by being the first in their families to take the MCAT. Methods: We conducted a literature review for interventions on test-related anxiety. Based on our findings, we elected to establish a pilot near-peer coaching (NPC) program for URM students enrolled on the Medical College of Wisconsin MCAT program. We quantified baseline and specific time point test-anxieties using the validated Westside test anxiety scale. We asked about MCAT concerns and program impressions via a free-response section and analyzed the results with inductive analysis. Results: Our review could find no other studies examining MCAT-related test anxiety in the prospective medical student population. NPC was chosen because of its accessibility. At baseline, approximately 50% of students had at least moderately high-test anxiety, meeting the threshold for intervention. Most students perceived themselves as unconfident in their ability to do well on the MCAT. We observed a decrease in test anxiety after coaching sessions. Students received the program well; however, they wanted to be able to choose the content and number of meetings. Conclusion: This observational pilot study suggests that URM pre-medical students have MCAT-related test anxieties high enough to warrant intervention and that NPC is well-received and correlates to reduce test anxiety levels

Calidad de vida del adulto mayor jubilado afiliado al Instituto Nicaragüense de Seguridad Social

This qualitative study assessed the life quality of retired older adults affiliated to the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS) in Bilwi City, Puerto Cabezas. For this purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with a homogeneous sample of 14 older adults from different ethnic groups (Miskitu, Creole and Mestizo), 7 women and 7 men, corresponding to 6 people from the Miskitu ethnic group, 4 from the Creole ethnic group and 4 from the Mestizo ethnic group, due to the geographical position of the region and taking into account their cultural environment. Convenience sampling was used and the information collected was subjected to two levels of coding to facilitate the analysis process. It was concluded that in general, the older adults had a good perception of their quality of life, with greater importance given to social factors, since the fundamental basis for a good quality of life was the family, followed by friends. Having a stable support base provided the older adult with security and well-being at the physical, psychological and social levels.  One of the factors with the greatest impact was the economic sphere; in contrast to the women, who did not make any negative remarks regarding this aspect, in the male sex, in the Mestizo and Creole ethnic groups there was greater discontent, in contrast to the Miskitu ethnic group.En el presente trabajo cualitativo se valoró la calidad de vida del adulto mayor jubilado afiliado al Instituto Nicaragüense de Seguridad Social (INSS) en la ciudad de Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas. Para este propósito, se realizaron entrevistas a profundidad a una muestra homogénea de 14 adultos mayores de las diferentes etnias (miskitu, creole y mestiza), 7 del sexo femenino y 7 del sexo masculino, correspondientes a 6 personas de la etnia miskitu, 4 de la etnia creole y 4 de la etnia mestiza, debido a la posición geográfica de la región y tomando en cuenta su entorno cultural. Fue utilizado un muestreo por conveniencia y, la información recolectada fue sometida a dos niveles de codificación para facilitar el proceso de análisis. Se concluyó que en general, los adultos mayores poseían una buena percepción sobre su calidad de vida, evidenciándose con mayor importancia los factores sociales, puesto que, la base fundamental para contar con una buena calidad de vida fue la familia, seguidamente los amigos. El poseer una base de apoyo estable brindaba al adulto mayor seguridad y bienestar a nivel físico, psicológico y social.  Uno de los factores de mayor impacto fue el ámbito económico; a diferencia de las mujeres, que no hicieron algún señalamiento negativo referente a este aspecto, en el sexo masculino, en las etnias mestiza y creole se evidenció mayor descontento en contraste con la etnia miskit

Employing the Church as a Marketer of Cancer Prevention: A Look at a Health Promotion Project Aimed to Reduce Colorectal Cancer Among African Americans in the Midwest

This is not the published version.Health promotion programs designed to address colorectal cancer disparities among African Americans are increasing. Unfortunately, this group still shoulders a disproportionate mortality burden in the United States; these numbers are also reflective of colorectal cancer (CRC) disparities in the Midwest. The purpose of this study was to extrapolate results from in-depth interviews and brief surveys on the effectiveness of the church as a social marketer of CRC-prevention messages. Results show that pastors believe the congregation has limited knowledge about CRC risk and prevention; they also believe the church can improve cancer-prevention communication among members and those affiliated with the church